Mining-machine



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

B. s. MQKINLAY. MINING MACHINE.

Pat

a g fll l'lll I IIJ 136 May 19, 1896.

AN DREW EGRANAM. PHOTOUTHQWASHINGTOND C.

(N0 Modem 2 SheetsSheet 2. E. S. MOKINLAY.

MINING MACHINE.

Patented May 19, 1896.

Iii/Damian 4 MJcyP AN DREW B.GRAHAM. PHOTO-UTHQWASHINGTON, D C

HATENT IFFICEO EDlVARD S. MCKINLAY, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

MINING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 560,363, dated May 19,1896.

Application filed October 19, 1886. Serial No. 216,670. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD S. MOKINLAY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Denver, in the county of Arapahoe and State of Colorado,have invented certain new and useful Improvements inltlining-lvlachines, of which the following is a specification,reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a plan view of a machine embodying my improvements. Fig. 2is a crosssection on the linear cc, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional viewof one of the antifriction-rollers on a large scale. Fig. 4 is a sideview of the central support of the crank-shaft. Fig. 5 is a plan view,and Fig. 6 an elevation, of one of the shoes for carrying thecutter-bar. Fig. 7 shows sections on the lines y y and z z of Fig. 6.Fig. Sis a partial longitudinal section on the line a a, Fig. 1.

The invention herein relates to improvements in mining-machines of theclass in which use is made of a stationary frame or bed and of acarriage mounted thereon for carrying the cutting apparatus.

This invention relates to improvementsin mining-machines of the class inwhich use is made of a stationary frame or bed, a carriage mountedthereon to move forward and back, a cutting apparatus at the front endof the carriage, an engine or motor at the rear end of the carriage, andone or more chains for imparting motion to the cutters at the front,said parts being arranged to act as a breast or front-thrustundercutting-machine.

It consists in providing a bed with relatively elevated side bars orparts, downwardly-extending bars, cross-bars, and bottomlongitudinally-arranged bars, together with a carriage having attachedparts such as aforesaid and arranged to have a bearing or guidance uponand by means of the elevated side bars, but also to have a support uponthe aforesaid bottom longitudinal bars.

It consists also in combining with the abovedescribed parts antifrictionrollers so arranged as to avoid the cramping and binding which has beenincident to machines of this class when pressure is applied to thecarriage.

The stationary bed A is formed with two side portions a a, secured tocross-braces I), which are securely bolted thereto and so form a rigidand strong bed, the stationary frame resting on these cross-braces,several of which are employed at sufficient intervals to impart thenecessary strength and rigidity to the frame. The side portions to maybe of any preferred character. As shown, they consist of tubes to a,which can beutilized as cylinders to feed forward the carriage, (theycontaining pistons, see Figs. 2 and 5,) united to the shoes or bracketsl, which carry the outter-bar L. These tubes are adapted to have air fedto them for driving forward the carriage; but instead of thisconstruction-that is to say, instead of air-tubes with pistons andinstead of cross-girths and connecting devices -of the character shownand instead of the shoes and cutting apparatus illustrated anddescribed-use may be made of any of those now well known. For instance,instead of tubes T-bars, channel-bars, or grooved bars, such as havebeen used heretofore, can be applied.

It will be seen that the side portions a have parts at a extendinghorizontally inward, which parts a are adapted to receive the upwardpressure of the carriage, there being antifriction-rollers interposedbetween the carriage and said inward-projecting parts a as will bedescribed. 0 0 represent the idlerrollers or antifriction-rollers, whichare thus interposed. The side portions of the bed are also provided witha track of, having a V- shaped rail or rail of equivalent shape, onwhich travel corresponding-shaped antifriction-rollers on the carriage.

The traveling carriage D is provided with bars d, fitted or adapted tothe side parts a of the bed, they having the side bars d extendingoutward from the parts d and lying under or below the aforesaid parts aThe side bars 01 are provided at suitable intervals with theantifriction-rollers d which are mounted on the bars cl in slots orrecesses and which run on the V-shaped tracks a of the bed, the roller01 corresponding in shape to these tracks and supporting the travelingcarriage on the stationary bed, friction between the bars of thecarriage and stationary bed being overcome by the rollers c and the,rollers (1 and the rollers d supporting the carriage on the track a, andany upward pressure of the carriage is received by the rollers c,interposed between the side bars of the carriage and the side portionsof the frame.

In the construction shown the rollers c are carried by the side bars (I;but it will be understood that they may be attached to the bed-frame andadapted to receive the upward pressure of the carriage in a waysubstantially equivalent to that in which they operate in the machineillustrated. IVhen the parts a are curved in section, as shown, therollers o will preferably be concave longitudinally. If the side piecesa of the bed have a fiat surface to receive the upward thrust, theserollers will be cylindrical.

On the carriage are mounted the engines and the power devices by whichthe cutting apparatus is operated. F F represent the cylinders, havingvalve-boxes F, piston-rods f and trunk-pistons f the piston beingconnected to the cranks g of the engine-shaft g. This shaft carries alsothe eccentrics 9 the rods 9 of which extend back to the valveboxes F.(Connection not shown.)

The crank-shaft g is mounted directly upon the side bars (Z d of thecarriage and is so situatcd as to be little if any above the uppersurfaces of the side bars. If necessary a box or bearing for the centralpart of the shaft can be provided, as shown at 9 this box or bearinghaving antifriction-rollers g fitted to a track g. The crank-shaft isconnected directly with the cutter-bar by the chains 8 s. It also drivesthe slack chain-shaft I by chain 1. For these chains 8 and Isprocket-wheels are provided on the crank-shaft and on the cutter-barand the slack chain-shaft.

Some of the advantages of this construction can be retained if use bemade of a supple mental or secondary shaft, geared or connected to thecrank'shaft, and provided with the sprocket-wheels or other devices fordriving the cutter-bar. In such case the secondary shaft should be alsoin as low a plane as possible, in order to have it level with thecutter-bar. In either casethat is to say, whether the cutter-bar isdriven directly from the crank-shaft or from a secondary shaftthe speedimparted to the cutter-bar can be very high, and when high speed is thusused the forward pressure upon the cutter-bar need not be so great, andcutters with smaller points can be employed for effecting the incisionsin the coal or rock.

As shown, the valve-chests F are above the cylinders, and the latter areprovided with the aforesaid trunk-pistons f, to which are pivoted theconnecting-rods f united to the cranks of the shaft but, instead ofengines of this character, use may be made of any which will attain thesame purposes. The engines are driven by compressed air,preferably,though steam or other motive agent can be used, if desired. As thedevices by which the motive agencyis taken into the mine and let ontoand exhausted from the engines are well known, they need not here be setforth in detail.

Rollers 0, being concave and fitting the convex side portions of thebed, are equivalent to two separate rollers, the lower part c of the oneshown operating to prevent the carriage from rising up, while the upperpart c can be regarded as an antifrietion-stop to hold the carriageproperly laterally in relation to the side portions of the bed-that isto say, these devices more or less encircle the side bars-and in thisrespect there can be modification without departing from the invention,irrespective of the fact that friction is reduced by the particular formof devices shown. To be sure, as shown, the whole roller 0 acts as astop for holding these parts in proper positions laterally; butnevertheless it will be seen that the lower part, in particular, acts asan antifriction-stop to pre vent the carriage from rising upward.

lhe machine differs from those of this class as known to me andheretofore made in that much of the weight of the engine or motor istaken oif from the side bars and is supported on the supplementallongitudinal bed-bars secured to the bottom cross-bars. IVhile I haveherein shown a cutter-bar as mounted across the front end of themachine, and a chain for imparting motion to the cutters, it will beunderstood that any of the forms of front-thrust cutting apparatus wellknown prior to my invention can be employed.

At the date of this patent it is known that in such machines between thecarriage (with the cutting apparatus) and the bed can be interposed oneset of vertical rollers like that at d on horizontal axes, upon whichthe carriage rests downward directly, and another set of rollers onhorizontal axes directly above some bar or part of the carriage, andagainst which this bar or part bears, the last said rollers beingattached to the bed and. operating to prevent the upward displacement ofthe carriage. I regard such rollers secured to the bed and bearin gagainst the upper surface of the carriage as the equivalents of therollers c in so far as the latter act as antifriction-stops to preventthe carriage from risin g up. So, too, at this time it is well knownthat in mining-machines three sets of antifrictionrollers can be used,those of one set being on horizontal axes which receive the weight ofthe carriage, a second set on horizontal axes which receive the upwardthrust of the carriage, and a third set on vertical axes which receivethe lateral thrust of the carriage. Such an arrangement is also theequivalent of that which I have shown, inasmuch as the rollers c in myconstruction perform a twofold function, they reeeivin g both the upwardand the lateral thrusts of the carriage.

I am aware that channeling and other 1nachines have been made orproposed which were so constructed as to run upon tracks and which hadsupplemental wheels engaging with the tracks or flanges thereon toprevent any tilting action of the machine, and I do not claim this styleof machine as of my invention. The difierences between suchconstructions and mine are clearly manifest without explanation. Mymachine belongs to the class in which a traveling carriage is mountedand slides upon a main frame, the whole being portable and adapted formaking an undercut in the face of the coal. The carriage is fed forwardand then withdrawn on the main frame instead of continuously feeding itforward on track rails.

I do not herein claim any of the combinations set forth in the claims inmy other application, Serial No. 214,257, or the application, Serial No.124,318, filed by myself and IV. A. McKinlay jointly, preferring toclaim in this case the patentable matters relating to theantifriction-rollers.

That I claim is- 1. In a front-thrust, or breast, undercuttingmining-machine, the combination of a bed having side bars situated abovethe ground, bars extending downward therefrom, crossbars resting uponthe ground and one or more longitudinal bars at or near its center andconnected to the cross-bars, a carriage fitted to the said bed andhaving a cutting apparatus across the front end thereof, one or morechains for imparting motion to the cutters and extending from the rearpart of the carriage to the front thereof, an engine or motor at therear of the carriage having its central part resting upon theaforesaidcentral longi tudinal bottom bars of the bed, and rollers orwheels interposed between the carriage and the elevated side bars of thebed, all of said parts constituting a portable unitary structure,substantially as set forth.

2. In afront-thrust, or breast, undercutting mining-machine, thecombination of a bed having side bars elevated from the ground,downwardly extending supporting bars, cross-bars adapted to rest uponthe ground, one or more longitudinal bars secured to the top of thecross-bars, a carriage moving forward and back on the said bed, acutting apparatus on said carriage and across its front end, one or morechains for imparting motion to the cutters and extending from the rearof the carriage to the front, a motor or engine mounted on the carriageat the rear end and arranged to drive the chain or chains and to beardownward on the longitudinal bottom bed-bars and engaging with orbearingagainst the elevated side bars by devices which encircle more or less ofsaid side bars, whereby an upward or downward displacement of the motoror carriage is prevented, and they are supported longitudinally on linesbetween the side bars, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD S. MOKINLAY.

WVitnesses:

LUcIUs P. MARSH, E. A. CLARK.

